Bea Mann
Beatrice (Bea) Mann died peacefully New Year's Eve from natural causes — she was 103.
Bea was born in Harrisburg, Penn., the eldest and last surviving of six children to Esther and Harold Smulyan. She met Sam Mann in Atlantic City, NJ, when he came over to take out one of her sisters. Luckily for all of us, Sam fell in love with Bea and their love story began!
Sam moved to California to establish himself as an optometrist before returning to marry Bea in 1935. The couple then moved to San Francisco, bought a house and had their son, Roger. Two years later, and now living in Stockton, Calif., they had their daughter, Rosalind.
Bea was eager to get back to San Francisco, and after eight "long" years in the Central Valley, she and Sam returned to raise their children in the St. Francis Woods' neighborhood of San Francisco. Both children went on to attend UC Berkeley, got married, and started families of their own.
With their children out of the nest, Bea and Sam sold their home in 1962 and traveled the world for six months before returning to the Bay Area and fell in love with Belvedere, Calif. They bought a home on the Belvedere Lagoon and became very active members of the community.
Sam was an active sailor and community leader, and Bea was always by his side. On her own, Bea created her own florist shop in Belvedere and made a run for City Council. Bea was the consummate entertainer — an invitation to a party at Bea and Sam Mann's was not to be passed up. Despite their busy social and sailing calendar, Bea always had plenty of time for her children and grandchildren. Weekends with "Mama Bea" and "Papa Sam" were filled with sailing, biking, swimming, dinners at the yacht club and all the silver-dollar pancakes you could eat, not to mention the endless games of charades and backgammon.
To know Bea was a real treat. Bea was never shy about letting the world know how she felt — a very refreshing and rare trait for a woman of her generation. Bea was also an avid sports fan. She loved her 49ers and her Warriors – and now that the Niners are back in winning form, and her beloved Steph Curry is back on the court, Bea will forever be smiling.
Bea and Sam remained beloved members of the Belvedere community well into their 90s. After Sam's death in 2005, Bea remained in Belvedere until shortly after her 100th birthday in 2014.
Bea is survived by her son, Roger (wife Joan) of Oakland, six grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren. Sadly, she is pre-deceased by her husband, Sam Mann, her daughter Rosalind (Shoshana) Isaacson, her granddaughter Rebecca Roe, and her great-grandson Ben Floriani.
A celebration of Bea's life will take place at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Reutlinger Community senior housing in Danville, CA, or to the donor's favorite charity.